In the east these Northmen thrust down the great rivers of Russia to the Caspian & the Black Sea. In the west they sailed along the Atlantic coasts, past Arab Spain, thru the Straits of Gibraltar & over the Mediterranean. They reached out across the unknown Atlantic, to Iceland, Greenland & America. How did it happen? Why did Europe permit Danes & Norwegians to rule parts of England, Ireland & France, & Swedes to form a ruling class in Western Russia? Why was Scandinavia strong, the rest of Europe weak? What inner forces led to the Viking raids? Professor Brondsted's classic study examines the motives of their voyages & investigates the origin of the people, their industries & equipment, ships, armies, social organization, daily life & religious beliefs as they are reflected in runic inscriptions, burial customs & Icelandic medieval literature.Acknowledgements & NoteMap of ScandinaviaMap of the DanevirkeBefore the VikingsThe Viking RaidsThe 9th CenturyThe 10th CenturyThe 11th CenturyWeapons & ToolsDress & JewelleryTransportTowns, Earthworks & CampsCoins & Weights & MeasuresRunic InscriptionsArtThe Viking Way of LifeReligious Belief & Burial CustomsPoetry & the Viking SpiritThe Vikings' Place in European HistorySelect BibliographyIndex

    A national bestseller in hardcover for more than a year after its initial publication, it has sold almost four million copies and has been translated into seventeen languages. For this elegant thirtieth-anniversary edition—published in both hardcover and paperback—Brown has contributed an incisive new preface.Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them demoralized and defeated. A unique and disturbing narrative told with force and clarity, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee changed forever our vision of how the West was really won.

    As historian and author Arthur Herman reveals, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Scotland made crucial contributions to science, philosophy, literature, education, medicine, commerce, and politics—contributions that have formed and nurtured the modern West ever since. This book is not just about Scotland: it is an exciting account of the origins of the modern world. No one who takes this incredible historical trek will ever view the Scots—or the modern West—in the same way again.

    Many of these were Irish citizens who died on board ships carrying them away from Ireland. Promised jobs and a better life in North America, they emigrated, crowding onto aptly named “coffin ships,” whose gruesome conditions rivaled those of slave transports. But on one ship, decency prevailed, and each of the thousands of passengers who went aboard survived. Among these thousands was a baby boy born on the ship’s maiden voyage. That boy, Nicholas—Nicholas Richard James Thomas William John Gabriel Carls Michael John Alexander Trabaret Archibald Cornelius Hugh Arthur Edward Johnston Reilly, so named for the captain, doctor, and crew of the Jeanie Johnston—would go on to make his own remarkable voyage into the heart of America.     All Standing chronicles the life of Nicholas, his fellow passengers, and the heroic crew members who conveyed them to safety. Using personal interviews, newspaper accounts, rare archival documents, and her own sailing experience, Miles takes readers back to another time and place that, for all its extremity, seems strangely familiar—a dire moment in history shaped by home foreclosures and company bailouts, seemingly untreatable pandemics, and the threat of immigrant labor. Against the backdrop of one of history’s greatest atrocities, Miles weaves a thrilling, intimate narrative, chronicling the sea-passage and birth of one Irish-American family.

    "Douglas Brinkley brings to this magnificent story of Theodore Roosevelt's crusade on behalf of America's national parks the same qualities that made TR so fascinating a figure—an astonishing range of knowledge, a superb narrative skill, a wonderfully vivid writing style and an inexhaustible energy." —Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of RivalsA vast, inspiring, and enormously entertaining book.” — New York Times Book ReviewFrom New York Times bestselling historian Douglas Brinkley comes a sweeping historical narrative and eye-opening look at the pioneering environmental policies of President Theodore Roosevelt, avid bird-watcher, naturalist, and the founding father of America’s conservation movement—now approaching its 100th anniversary.

    Set against the backdrop of one of the most exciting and uncertain times in world history, John Kendrick's odyssey aboard his sailing ship Lady Washington carries him from the shores of New England across the unexplored waters of the Pacific Northwest to the contentious ports of China and the war-ravaged islands of Hawaii, all while avoiding intrigues and traps from the British and the Spanish. Morning of Fire is riveting American and naval history that brings the era of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson gloriously alive—a tale of danger, adventure, and discovery that fans of Nathaniel Philbrick will not want to miss.

    But history reveals that smear campaigns are as American as apple pie. Anything for a Vote is an illustrated look at 200-plus years of dirty tricks and bad behavior in presidential elections, from George Washington to Barack Obama and John McCain. Let the name-calling begin!       •Â  1836: Congressman Davy Crockett accuses candidate Martin Van Buren of secretly wearing women’s clothing: “He is laced up in corsets!”     •Â  1864: Presidential candidate George McClellan describes his opponent, Abraham Lincoln, as “nothing more than a well-meaning baboon!”      •Â  1960: Former president Harry Truman advises voters that “if you vote for Richard Nixon, you ought to go to hell!” Full of sleazy anecdotes from every presidential election in United States history, Anything for a Vote is a valuable reminder that history does repeat itself, that lessons can be learned from the past (though they usually aren’t), and that our most famous presidents are not above reproach when it comes to the dirtiest game of all—political campaigning.

    They include a special reader's letter from Karen explaining how the darkness in these stories became more than she could bear and prompted a dramatic career change to write Life-Changing Fiction.Final Vows: When Carol Montecalvo began writing to a man in prison through a program at her church, she considered it her Christian duty. But these letters soon became her lifeline as she fell in love with Dan, the man behind the letters. In Final Vows, Karen Kingsbury chronicles a couple’s unlikely romance and marriage, and what led to Carol's bloody death on her kitchen floor. It seems her husband has obvious motives for murder. But is this former felon really guilty? Or could he actually be a grieving widower, in the wrong place at the wrong time, showing the wrong type of emotions when faced with his wife's lifeless body?Deadly Pretender: CIA Agent. Business Owner. Lobbyist. Bigamist. David Miller was the envy of both friend and foe, with a dream job and perfect family. He seemed to have it all. But he wanted more. One family wasn't enough: he wanted two. Two careers weren't enough; he invented a third. He juggled it all quite well . . . until the day his two wives found out about each other. David Miller groped for ways to hold on to his finances and reputation. His solution? Murder. But it had to be done right, leaving him off the list of suspects.The Snake and the Spider: Florida. Spring Break. Words that evoke excited anticipation for young adults . . . and extreme angst for their parents. But the parents of best friends Daryl Barber and James Boucher were confident their sons could be trusted to spend a week in the sun without them. As they all waved goodbye, no one imagined it would be the last time they'd see each other alive. When the boys missed their agreed-upon daily check-ins, both sets of parents were disappointed. When the boys failed to come home on their planned return date, both sets of parents were furious. And when it was clear the boys had vanished without a trace, both sets of parents were terrified.Missy’s Murder: On an October day, teenager Missy Avila was lured into the woods, beaten, tortured, and drowned. Missy's best friend, Karen, publicly vows to find the killer and even moves in with Missy's family to help. No one could have guessed what would happen next. Missy's Murder is a shocking tale of how jealousy can drive people to acts of great evil.

    Now the Golden State’s premier historian, Kevin Starr, distills the entire sweep of California’s history into one splendid volume. From the age of exploration to the age of Arnold, this is the story of a place at once quintessentially American and utterly unique.Arguing that America’s most populous state has always been blessed with both spectacular natural beauty and astonishing human diversity, Starr unfolds a rapid-fire epic of discovery, innovation, catastrophe, and triumph. For generations, California’s native peoples basked in the abundance of a climate and topography eminently suited to human habitation. By the time the Spanish arrived in the early sixteenth century, there were scores of autonomous tribes were thriving in the region. Though conquest was rapid, nearly two centuries passed before Spain exerted control over upper California through the chain of missions that stand to this day.The discovery of gold in January 1848 changed everything. With population increasing exponentially as get-rich-quick dreamers converged from all over the world, California reinvented itself overnight. Starr deftly traces the successive waves of innovation and calamity that have broken over the state since then–the incredible wealth of the Big Four railroad tycoons and the devastating San Francisco earthquake of 1906; the emergence of Hollywood as the world’s entertainment capital and of Silicon Valley as the center of high-tech research and development; the heroic irrigation and transportation projects that have altered the face of the region; the role of labor, both organized and migrant, in key industries from agriculture to aerospace.Kevin Starr has devoted his career to the history of his beloved state, but he has never lost his sense of wonder over California’s sheer abundance and peerless variety. This one-volume distillation of a lifetime’s work gathers together everything that is most important, most fascinating, and most revealing about our greatest state.From the Hardcover edition.

    On March 25, 1911, as workers were getting ready to leave for the day, a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York’s Greenwich Village. Within minutes it spread to consume the building’s upper three stories. Firemen who arrived at the scene were unable to rescue those trapped inside: their ladders simply weren’t tall enough. People on the street watched in horror as desperate workers jumped to their deaths. The final toll was 146 people—123 of them women. It was the worst disaster in New York City history.

    Vollmann, S.E. Hinton, Dave Eggers, Myla Goldberg, Rick Moody, and Alexander Payne.  Inspired by the Depression-era WPA guides and awarded an “A” grade by Entertainment Weekly, these delightful essays on the American character deliver “the full plumage of American life, in all its riotous glory” (The New Yorker).

    With the Norsemen murdering one king with arrows and torturing another to death by ripping out his lungs, the prospects that faced the kingdom of Wessex were bleak. Worse still, the Saxons were now led by a young man barely out of his teens who was more interested in God than fighting. Yet within a decade Alfred—the only English king known as the Great—had driven the Vikings out of half of England, and his children and grandchildren would unite the country a few years later. This period, popular with fans of television shows such as Vikings and The Last Kingdom, saw the creation of England as a nation-state, with Alfred laying down the first national law code, establishing an education system and building cities.Saxons vs. Vikings also covers the period before Alfred, including ancient Britain, the Roman occupation, and the Dark Ages, explaining important historical episodes such as Boudicca, King Arthur, and Beowulf.Perfect for newcomers to the subject, this is the second title in the new A Very, Very Short History of England series. If you’re trying to understand England and its history in the most informative and entertaining way possible, this is the place to start.

    Sparking the idea for this book was Carroll’s visit to the spot where Abraham Lincoln’s son was saved by the brother of Lincoln’s assassin. Carroll wondered, How many other unmarked places are there where intriguing events have unfolded and that we walk past every day, not realizing their significance? To answer that question, Carroll ultimately trekked to every region of the country -- by car, train, plane, helicopter, bus, bike, and kayak and on foot. Among the things he learned: *Where in North America the oldest sample of human DNA was discovered * Where America’s deadliest maritime disaster took place, a calamity worse than the fate of the Titanic *Which virtually unknown American scientist saved hundreds of millions of lives *Which famous Prohibition agent was the brother of a notorious gangster *How a 14-year-old farm boy’s brainstorm led to the creation of television Featured prominently in Here Is Where are an abundance of firsts (from the first use of modern anesthesia to the first cremation to the first murder conviction based on forensic evidence); outrages (from riots to massacres to forced sterilizations); and breakthroughs (from the invention, inside a prison, of a revolutionary weapon; to the recovery, deep in the Alaskan tundra, of a super-virus; to the building of the rocket that made possible space travel). Here Is Where is thoroughly entertaining, but it’s also a profound reminder that the places we pass by often harbor amazing secrets and that there are countless other astonishing stories still out there, waiting to be found.

    But the expedition went horribly wrong: Delayed by a hurricane, knocked off course by a colossal error of navigation, and ultimately doomed by a disastrous decision to separate the men from their ships, the mission quickly became a desperate journey of survival. Of the four hundred men who had embarked on the voyage, only four survived-three Spaniards and an African slave. This tiny band endured a horrific march through Florida, a harrowing raft passage across the Louisiana coast, and years of enslavement in the American Southwest. They journeyed for almost ten years in search of the Pacific Ocean that would guide them home, and they were forever changed by their experience. The men lived with a variety of nomadic Indians and learned several indigenous languages. They saw lands, peoples, plants, and animals that no outsider had ever before seen. In this enthralling tale of four castaways wandering in an unknown land, Andres Resendez brings to life the vast, dynamic world of North America just a few years before European settlers would transform it forever.

    1000? Farley Mowat advances a controversial new theory about the first visitors to North America.Mowat's Westviking: The Ancient Norse in Greenland and North America (1965) was highly influential in helping to establish the belief, now commonly held, that the Norse visited North America some 500 years before Columbus. And yet "a worm of unease" plagued Mowat even then, a vague feeling that he hadn't gotten it quite right. He spent the next 30 years in search of a theory that would explain inconsistencies in the archaeological evidence (such as carbon-dated ruins not left by the Inuit, but that predated the arrival of Vikings in Newfoundland by hundreds of years). Now in The Farfarers he asserts that another Indo-European people he calls the "Alban" preceded the Norse by several centuries.Throughout The Farfarers, Mowat skillfully weaves fictional vignettes of Alban life into his thoughtful reconstruction of a forgotten history. What emerges is a bold and dramatic panorama of a harsher age: an age of death-dealing warships and scanty food supply, of long, cold journeys across the night sea into unknown lands."A spellbinding story . . . told by a master storyteller at the top of his form."—The Globe and Mail"The book is a fascinating glimpse of yesteryear and offers brief histories on the Celts, Saxons, Vikings, Inuits, and other peoples of the northern hemisphere. Written in vigorous, picturesque prose."—The Edmonton Sun